After the familiar sensation of teleportation, Li Zhi appeared in the safe house.
For the first time, Tan Manyu entered the safe house, curiously looking around. Suddenly, someone in the team burst into tears: “Peipei?! Where is Peipei?!”
It was Xu Yiran.
Of the seven people who fought their way through the level, only six made it into the safe house.
Peipei was eliminated.
Even though this scene occurs every time they clear a level, it still hurts every time.
Everyone remained silent for a long time until Xu Yiran’s sobbing gradually stopped, and she sat dazed on the couch. Tan Manyu’s expression was also unpleasant, and she said to Li Zhi regretfully, “It’s a shame we didn’t find any clues this time.”
She was referring to her special mission. She entered the game to find a way to break through the system that expels [Ghost]. Unfortunately, this mission was far too difficult to complete in just one attempt.
However, Li Zhi shook her head. “No, we did gain something.”
Tan Manyu was stunned. Li Zhi smiled and said, “At least we now know that there is indeed a way to expel the [Ghost] system.”
Joy flickered in Tan Manyu’s eyes. “Yes! The reaction of the Pen Spirit at the time clearly indicated something!”
Li Zhi patted her uninjured shoulder comfortingly. “So don’t lose heart. At the very least, we know we’re not wasting our efforts.”
Tan Manyu nodded heavily.
Having hope is more important than anything.
Although they successfully cleared the level this time, losing a comrade who had fought by their side and witnessing the tragic story of Xiang Min and Xie Cong left everyone feeling heavy-hearted. It wasn’t the usual excitement after a victory.
Lian Qinglin angrily said, “Worshipping a worm like it’s a god— that principal deserved to die! We should have beaten him up again during the day!”
“I’ve read about the San Shi Worm before,” Tan Manyu suddenly said. “In Daoist scriptures, the San Shi Worm is referred to as the Three Corpse God. It represents three desires in humans, which is why there’s a saying about cutting off the Three Corpses. However, I’ve only heard of eliminating them, not worshipping them.”
The special department discovered that most of the instances were related to traditional customs and taboos about ghosts and monsters. During their training, they focused a lot on these aspects. Tan Manyu had almost read all the Daoist and Buddhist texts during her training, and she remembered something about the San Shi Worm.
“There’s a popular belief that when a person dies, their three souls ascend to the heavens, and their seven spirits enter the earth, while the Three Corpses leave the body and turn into ghosts. So, the ghosts people speak of are actually transformed from the Three Corpses.”
“No wonder the way the San Shi Worm infects students is through ghost summoning games,” Lian Qinglin realized. “According to the theory of the Three Corpses transforming into ghosts, the ghosts they summon are just the San Shi Worms, right?”
Just as the novice guide Xu Shu had once said, the [Ghost] system is a perfectionist. It adheres to logic when designing instances.
Perhaps, when setting the rules, it too must follow certain principles.
If that’s the case, the way to expel the [ghosts] system might be hidden within these rules that they have yet to fully understand.
While Li Zhi was deep in thought, the ranking for this round appeared on the white wall, and the system’s broadcast rang out in the safe house:
——Voting for this round has ended. The popularity results are as follows:
——First place: Li Zhi, with a total of 4,401,317 popularity points.
——Second place: Lian Qinglin, with a total of 3,012,669 popularity points.
——Third place: Tan Manyu, with a total of 622,108 popularity points.
——Fourth place: Teng Maomao. Total popularity score: 520,116.
——Fifth place: Xu Yiran. Total popularity score: 421,197.
——Sixth place: Yu Kaile. Total popularity score: 321,609.
The white-haired player discreetly patted his chest in relief. So close! He had narrowly escaped being eliminated, nearly coming in last.
Tan Manyu, seeing her own popularity score and ranking, gave Li Zhi a grateful glance. Her goal had simply been to avoid elimination, but with Li Zhi’s help, she had earned such a high popularity score. This would be incredibly beneficial for her in the upcoming challenges.
After announcing the rankings, the system began reporting the MVP of the round: “Based on players’ performance in the instance, the player awarded an S-rank evaluation is Li Zhi. The reward is 1.5x bonus points, increasing the popularity score of the current instance to 6,601,975, with no change in ranking. The total popularity score is now 11,109,395, placing the player at 63rd on the global leaderboard. Keep up the good work!”
“Boss! Your popularity score passed 10 million!”
Everyone was genuinely happy for her.
Before entering the reward space, Li Zhi whispered to Tan Manyu, “Don’t challenge its rules based on your inner desires, or you won’t get the clearance rewards.”
A thorny rose—a lesson learned in blood!
Tan Manyu smiled, “I know. Our people already tried and were warned by it.” Her gaze toward Li Zhi became more trusting. “So, you’ve tried it before.”
Now, Tan Manyu was 100% sure that Li Zhi’s goals aligned with the official organization. Once she was out of here, she planned to report everything to her superiors and do her best to fulfill Li Zhi’s request to share all the official findings on the [Ghost] system.
After their brief conversation, the six players were soon transported to their individual reward spaces.
Li Zhi once again heard the system’s voice: “Popularity score calculation complete. Your clearance reward will now be issued based on your most desired inner need.”
A golden, glowing item appeared before her on the screen, labeled “Black Tortoise Shell 2.0.”
Li Zhi: “…”
She reached out and claimed the item. The shell was heavier than the last one, and the method of use appeared in her mind: Enhanced Black Tortoise Shell, stackable with version 1.0. It provides a protective barrier for the user’s residence, blocking attacks from low- to mid-level ghosts in the real world. If malicious human intent is detected, it will issue an alarm and block up to three attacks using supernatural items.
Ever since being followed in a shopping mall, Li Zhi had been worried about her family’s safety. Though there was covert protection from government agencies, the world was now overrun with supernatural creatures and items, and human efforts were often limited.
Her innermost need this time was to strengthen the defenses of her home, not only against ghosts but also against ill-intentioned humans armed with supernatural items.
Still, the “Black Tortoise Shell 2.0” sounded a bit lazy—couldn’t they at least change the name?
But the effect was good, so Li Zhi accepted it gratefully.
After claiming her clearance reward, three random items appeared on her panel, instead of the usual two.
The system’s voice chimed in, “Congratulations to player Li Zhi for surpassing 10 million popularity points, unlocking a new privilege. You can now choose from three random items.”
So, that’s a new rule.
It seemed that as popularity points increased, more privileges would be unlocked. With more and more items in their hands, high-popularity players would become nearly invincible in future instances—it would be hard for them to even die.
It was an extremely powerful virtuous cycle. Li Zhi couldn’t help but recall the admiration in Xu Shu’s voice when he spoke of high-popularity players in their world during the newcomer instance.
High-popularity players are like gods.
Yes, at that level, they were no different from gods.
The actions of the [Ghost] system were like a talent agency building up stars, aiming to elevate these players to the highest pinnacle.
Li Zhi believed that every move the [Ghost] system made wasn’t without purpose. Why would it elevate high-popularity players to a status comparable to gods?
The panel in front of her flickered, as if reminding her to hurry and buy some items.
Li Zhi refocused and looked at the available items for this round.
– Verdigris Incense Burner: Usable only in instances. After lighting an incense stick, it can summon a ghost to fight on your behalf, lasting until the incense burns out. Costs 799 points.
– Key that can open any door: Usable both in the real world and in instances, with a limit of five uses. Costs 599 points.
– Damage Transfer Talisman: A one-time item, usable both in the real world and in instances. Costs 399 points.
Without hesitation, Li Zhi spent 1.8 million popularity points to exchange for 1,800 system points and bought all three items. The system’s mechanical voice announced: “Player’s total popularity value detected to have changed to 9,309,395. Player rank has dropped from 63rd to 75th on the global popularity leaderboard. Keep up the good work, player.”
After leaving the reward space, Pink Hair saw the change in Li Zhi’s popularity value on the screen and couldn’t help but exclaim, “What kind of items did you buy to spend over a million points?! You’ve dropped below ten million in popularity!”
Lian Qinglin, who had long surpassed ten million in popularity, winked and kicked Pink Hair lightly, “Mind your own business, don’t ask about what bigshots do!”
After claiming their rewards, the safe house began its countdown to close. Li Zhi gave Tan Manyu a glance, and Tan Manyu nodded in understanding.
When the countdown ended, the safe house closed, and the six of them were teleported back to where they had been before entering the instance.
Li Shuang, who had been waiting at home, heard movement from the bedroom and rushed over to give her sister a bear hug, then started whining, “Sis! Xiang Min and Xie Cong are so pitiful! My pure-love warriors fell in battle!”
Li Zhi patted her head, “I’m going to take a shower first.”
Li Shuang obediently got off her.
When she came out after showering, Shang Jinru had already sliced up a large plate of fruit, with several desserts laid out on the side. “Mom learned these new recipes! Try them out. Every time you come out of an instance, you barely get to eat anything nice. Look at how thin you’ve gotten.”
Li Zhi nodded in agreement. “The food in the instance really is bad, nowhere near as good as my mom’s cooking.”
Shang Jinru beamed and pushed the small desserts toward her. “Try them! How do they taste?”
Li Zhi took a few bites and gave a thumbs-up. “Not too sweet, delicious.”
“Not too sweet” is the highest compliment you can give a dessert!
Shang Jinru was satisfied.
As she was eating, Tan Manyu’s call came through. Li Zhi quickly finished the dessert brimming with motherly love, then went back to her room to answer the phone.
“How’s your injury?”
A laugh came from the other end. “It’s nothing. The school doctor, Li Jianxi, treated it while we were still in the instance. I’ll just go to the hospital later for a follow-up.”
Li Zhi responded and got to the point: “When Zhou Jianzhang died, I heard him shout, ‘Offer everything to the Ghost God.’ Do you know what that means?”
Tan Manyu’s tone immediately became serious. “So it’s true!” she said in a grave voice. “There’s currently a cult in the world that worships the [Ghost] system as a savior god. Have you heard of it?”
Li Zhi nodded, “I’ve heard of them.”
“‘Offer everything to ghosts and gods’—that’s their doctrine. This group is extremely radical and has instigated numerous notorious incidents around the world to gain attention. After entering an instance, they even kill their teammates before clearing the level, calling it a sacrifice. No wonder Zhou Jianzhang and the others, even after turning into monsters, were so obsessed with hunting us down.”
Even if they hadn’t been infected by the San Shi Worms and turned into monsters, they would have attacked their teammates at the final critical moment.